THE COLUMN: Uong seeks spot on License Commission

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
11/26/2012 02:26:07 PM EST

FORMER CITY Councilor Rithy Uong is looking to mount a comeback, on a smaller stage.

Uong confirmed to that he submitted a letter of interest in serving on the License Commission earlier this fall after the resignations of Commissioners Raymond Weicker and Walter Bayliss Jr. The board oversees the city's liquor license holders.

Uong said he had an interview recently with City Manager Bernie Lynch. "I don't want the city to have the excuse that they cannot find a qualified Cambodian to serve on boards and commissions," Uong said. "And after serving on the City Council, I'm eager to serve the city again."

Denis Teague, a Republican, was appointed to fill Weicker's position, then told city leaders he couldn't serve because he was moving to Vermont. The License Commission must have at least one member of each major political party. Uong could not be appointed to replace Teague, because the commission would have no member from the GOP.

However, the city wants to increase the size of the commission from three members to five. If the state Legislature signs off, Uong would have a good chance to be appointed.

City Councilor Vesna Nuon, a fellow Cambodian-American and friend of Uong's, said Uong would be a great fit for the License Commission. "Considering Cambodians own a lot of the liquor stores and function halls in Lowell, they should have input through the License Commission," Nuon said.

Uong said Lynch also asked him if he had interest in serving as an alternate on the Planning Board.

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Uong said he would not.

Some observers are wondering if the former councilor is trying to rehabilitate his image for a run for state representative from the 18th Middlesex District. That district is represented by Kevin Murphy, who has had over the years steady aspirations to become city manager.

Uong was the first Cambodian-American elected to a council-level position in the country, but later had to resign when his promotion at Lowell High School ran afoul of the state Ethics Commission.

One political scenario making the rounds a couple months back went like this: Lynch would resign under pressure, with some of that pressure applied by Nuon. Murphy gets the job he's long coveted and helps repay Nuon by supporting Uong, as his replacement.

Uong said any run for state representative is at least four years away.

INEVITABLY SOME public official would stand up and express concern about the language commonly used by Lynne Lupien and some of her cohorts on the blog Left in Lowell to denigrate public officials at all levels of government.

Greater Lowell Technical High School Superintendent-Director Mary-Jo Santoro did so this past week.

Lupien wrote that if Santoro was "crying wolf" about GL Tech Committee member Erik Gitschier allegedly harassing her, then Lupien wanted Santoro's "head on a platter" and "she should be hung for it." Lupien prefaced her comments by saying she did not know the details of the Santoro harassment allegations.

Santoro went to police about the remarks, saying she felt threatened.

Commenters on the Tech posting were silent about Lupien's choice of words as of Friday morning.

Mercier, Caulfield and Elliott have publicly opposed Lynch, one of the few public figures Lupien and her cohorts have kind words for.

MERCIER SAID she was not surprised by Lupien's posting.

"She has a dirty trash mouth and that is wrong," Mercier said. "No one should ever say somebody should be hung. I give Mary Jo credit for going to police and I hope she gets Lynne's blog shut down so she stops trying to bully people in a nasty way."

Mercier said she does not like that Lupien and others on the blog make unsubstantiated claims, often with pseudonyms.

Mercier has twice blasted anonymous blog posters on the council floor, calling them "cowards."

"Someone on there once accused me of being upset my brother did not get a job at City Hall," Mercier said. "I don't have a brother."

It did not go unnoticed among Mercier and others that Lynch invited Left in Lowell bloggers to participate in a media roundtable earlier this year, despite the fact that bloggers have disparaged some of his bosses for years.

Lupien directed a request for comment on her blogging about Santoro and others to a blog post Wednesday titled "Political Hyperbolae."

Lupien reposted her original remarks about Santoro and was far from apologetic.

"My comment is very obviously political hyperbole. Which of course I engage in on a regular basis. It's fun. It's protected. It's even cathartic, but that's not why I do it. I do it to point out injustices, bad political actors, and misuse of the public trust, its funds, and the abuse of power in general."

Lupien also wrote she will not change her ways.

"I can also assure you, my free speech will not be impinged. I will continue to ask the tough questions, and yes, sometimes my language is colorful ... I'm not going anywhere. Lowell, you're stuck with me."

Left in Lowell's co-founder, LTC board member Muriel Parseghian, did not respond to a request for comment.

Others who used to frequently comment on the blog include School Committee members Kristin Ross-Sitcawich and Kim Scott.

THE STRATEGY of "non-voting" in Billerica's town center redesign referendum blew up as badly as the New York Jets did on Thursday night.

On Monday voters overwhelmingly trounced a $14 million proposal to change the look of the town center, a measure that had managed to muster two-thirds support from Town Meeting last month.

The plan needed the same two-thirds approval at the polls, with a catch -- if turnout did not reach 20 percent, the referendum would be void and the Town Meeting vote would be valid.

In the upside-down universe that was Billerica this past month, a non-vote was being sold to the public as a yes vote, and some supporters were told to stay home to keep turnout low.

One Facebook page, Reconstruct the Center, featured designs, plans and information sheets detailing the project, to combat the negativity of the opposition.

The creator of the page wrote: "If after looking at this page your (sic) a yes vote then don't vote on Monday."

That all changed about 1 p.m. Monday. Word spread over Facebook and Twitter that turnout was nearing 20 percent seven hours before the polls closed.

Reconstruct the Center had a new post: "Change of plans -- the vote turnout has already exceeded 20 percent ..."

The page has since been removed.

JON GOLNIK lashed out at Republican State Committeeman Brian Burke in an email posted on Rabid Republican Blog this week.

Golnik, a Carlisle R epublican who was soundly defeated by U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas in the redrawn 3rd Congressional District this month, was responding to an email Burke sent out to fellow state Republicans that reflected on the GOPs disastrous election results.

Burke, a Stow attorney, wrote that state Republicans must openly discuss why they have failed to appeal to voters if they are going to begin the process of rebuilding the party.

Golnik responded with a lengthy and fiery email in which he repeatedly blasts Burke for failing to take a more active role in area Republican campaigns this year.

"Your opinion carries no weight and makes a mockery of what our state party has just experienced," write Golnik. "You simply cannot expect to have a voice after the fact."

Golnik also offers his own thoughts on how the GOP can be successful in Massachusetts: Running candidates in every single state race, as well as reaching out to minorities, unions and unenrolled and young voters.

NEARLY TWO weeks after Littleton's Elder and Human Services Director Janice Nowicki suddenly resigned, the Council on Aging held a meeting on Monday to discuss her position, among other things, without legal posting it.

The Town Clerk's office found out the problem after The Sun inquired about it on Tuesday. Town Clerk Diane Crory said her office never received the meeting notice, and therefore did not post the notice on the bulletin board outside Town Hall, as required under the state Open Meeting Law, or on the meeting calendar on the town Web site. The meeting was only listed in the form of agenda on the Council's website, which does not satisfy the Open Meeting Law requirements.

Town Administrator Keith Bergman suspects the council failed to post the meeting notice because of confusion among its members about who is supposed to do what -- the very issue that Bergman says has caused some "dysfunction" inside the board over the years and led Nowicki to step down.

The emails exchanged among Crory, Bergman, Nowicki, Council on Aging Chairwoman Mary Dugan and some council members show the council either may not have known who needed to post meeting notices, or thought it was somehow taken care of.

During the Monday meeting, the Council on Aging has shown its willingness to participate in a training with a "team-building" facilitator from Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, Bergman said.

Meehan says he met with Kerry because UMass Lowell is entering a partnership with Raytheon and the Gulf University for Science and Technology, in Kuwait -- a major strategic partner of the U.S. in the Middle East.

Since Kerry is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Meehan said his former colleagues on Capitol Hill should know about the budding partnership.

He went to Washington to meet with Kerry about the partnership, and described Kerry as "thrilled" by the news.

But the meeting occurred in a month when Meehan's name has surfaced as a potential candidate for Kerry's Senate seat should Kerry be chosen as President Barack Obama's secretary of state.

Good timing.

'TIS THE season for moving prosecutors. Lowell District Court is about to lose two key prosecutors, one to Juvenile Court and the other to Superior Court. As of Monday, Assistant District Attorney Emily Jackson is shifting seats from district court to Lowell Juvenile Court, while prosecutor Kate Hartigan is moving up to superior court.

CONGRATS TO Chelmsford's Evan Heidenrich, the on-air news and traffic announcer for the Howie Carr Show on WRKO AM 680 radio. Heidenrich worked at WCAP 980 AM in Lowell, starting in 2009, as an on-air host and producer and newscaster.

ASSISTANT DISTRICT Attorney Katharine Folger has prosecuted some of the most high-profile child-abuse cases in Middlesex County and now she is finally being recognized for her work.

Folger, a 17-year veteran of the DA's office and chief of the Child Abuse Unit, was honored as Prosecutor of the Year by the Middlesex Bar Association for her "significant legal contributions to the public.''

Last year, Folger was honored with the "Access to Justice Prosecutor Award,'' by the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Folger also serves as director of the Middlesex Children's Advocacy Center, a nationally certified program with the National Children's Alliance.

Last year, Folger prosecuted the case of Brad Warner, aka "Coach Brad,'' formerly of Acton, who was pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

NO ONE asked Tewksbury Selectman Doug Sears about his stance on abortion during his campaign for the Tewksbury and Wilmington state representative seat -- and that's exactly why Sears stepped forward to clarify his position, 13 days after his resounding loss to incumbent Rep. Jim Miceli.

Last Monday, Sears came across a weeks-old endorsement of his Democratic opponent on the conservative blog Red Mass Group. The site's publisher, Lowell native Rob Eno, wrote that his main reason for crossing party lines to pick Miceli over the Republican Sears was that Miceli is pro-life while Sears is not.

In a comment more than twice the length of Eno's original post, Sears fired back, explaining that's not the case and blasting Eno as "the 'poster boy' for a failed GOP." Sears is, as he puts it, "pro-wife." While he opposes abortion generally, he'd support terminating a pregnancy endangering his wife's life.

Sears retorted that by focusing their platform around abortion, pro-life Republicans have "aborted the Mass. GOP" and "done a very good job at terminating its significance."

His more moderate stance, however, apparently didn't win over the voters of the 19th Middlesex District, who re-ele cted Miceli to his 18th term with 74 percent of the vote to Sears' 26 percent.

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